Daughter shares memories of WWII veteran mom

Editor's note:Hometown Portraits are feature stories that typically profile living Cleveland County residents. In honor of Memorial Day, The Star is devoting today’s Hometown Portrait to World War II veteran Alice Murray, who died May 16 at age 96.

SHELBY — Off a gravel drive, nestled against a cluster of trees, sits a modest mobile home in Shelby. Inside, a daughter and her 96- year-old ailing mother spend their evenings playing a word game called, “I love you more.”

The TV volume turned down low, the two women reminisce. In moments of silence, they hold hands.

Pat Thompson refers to her mother, Alice Murray, as the best mom anyone could have.

“She was a respectful mother. We were allowed to make mistakes,” Thompson recalled.

In 1942, Alice Murray was one of the first women to enlist in the Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps.

She completed basic training in Des Moines, Iowa. When training was finished, she left her small-town home for Morocco. There, she served as a mess hall sergeant and first cook.

That’s where she met her husband. In 1944, Murray married Pfc. William Edwin Murray Jr., in Italy.

“My parents were married twice,” Roberts explained. Southern Italy would not recognize the marriage, so they wed again in Northern Italy.

In 1945, Murray was discharged from the Army with a medical condition.

She was pregnant with her first child.

“She complained all the time that Army women today are able to have babies and not be dismissed,” Thompson said.

Murray returned to the States alone. Her husband would not join her until 1948.

The couple bought a farm and settled in Minnesota. In 1951 they relocated again, settling this time in Winston –Salem.

The Murrays had a second child in 1953.

“The baby was a surprise,” Thompson said. “The infant was hidden by a mass tumor in my mother’s stomach.”

Murray almost died.

Life resumed for the family, and Murray was a loving parent who was involved in her children’s lives.

“She was an excellent seamstress, she taught me how to sew,” Thompson said.

Murray once insisted her daughter remove a zipper eight times until she got it right.

“It was so perfect my teacher accused my mother of putting the zipper in.” she said.

The Murrays later moved their family to Cherryville. In early 1969, William Murray died at the age of 44.

“My mother found plane tickets after his death,” Thompson said. “They were for a trip to Italy for their 25th wedding anniversary.”

In 1993, Murray again moved on without her husband — this time to Shelby, where Murray would remain for the rest of her life.

During her final weeks, Murray shared with her daughter her desire to be reunited with her deceased husband.

“She told me it was time to see him,” Thompson said.

Page 2 of 2 - While playing their favorite word game, Thompson said her mother stopped talking, stared at her and whispered, “It’s a tie.”

On May 16, Thompson cradled her mother’s head in the nook of her arm and held her as she took her last breath.

“These moments were our moments,” Thompson said. “No one can take them from me.”